What's New?

What's new? The date, first of all, which I am highly likely to forget for the first few weeks of signing anything. I'm sure I'll be writing 2024 until February (ugh). I've talked to several friends who say, "I think I gained 10-15 pounds over the holidays", so the change is likely to hold off on all the sweets and get some more exercise. Dave decided to change the golf course he belongs to that will be only 10 minutes from us versus 35 minutes from us. That will be a big change.
Other than one week that Grand Canyon University didn't have us (professors) correspond with students, I've been teaching two or three classes, so I'm not sure about anything new with me. I'm still waking up and praying every morning on my prayer stool, doing my morning meditation readings, and walking the dogs typically twice a day. 
Hmmmm.....what about this I.V. girl we adopted? 
We already had two Labs (Kirby and L.C.), so we didn't need another Lab. But somehow, God had a funny way of showing us that there was a little girl who needed us. The back story isn't pretty at all, so readers beware:  her dad was a Great Pyrenees, and her mom was a Lab. They were found on the south side of San Antonio,  strangled to death and tethered to this litter of puppies (I think there were five to start with but once they were found, only two survived, and even one of those died likely because of drinking bad milk from the deceased mom). One girl survived this heinous situation and was taken to a rescue near us. A friend told us about her, and while she didn't seem very Lab-like, she seemed really sweet when we met her at the kennel where she was being boarded until someone volunteered to foster her. The moment our kids met her, she began bouncing around a little bit and showing some personality.
We said we would take her home and foster her at least for the time being. She promptly threw up in the back seat of the pick-up on the way home, and since I love the name Ivy, we decided to name her I.V. for "I vomited".  Stick with Ivy for a minute or two.....
In the last three months we have had this girl, she has thrived to excess. She does not need a leash, because she knows she is part of our "pack".  She sleeps right between Dave and me (much to the frustration of L.C. and Kirby, I think), and she is absolutely beautiful and loving and all the things you would want in a dog. I am not sure when the fostering turned into adopting, but I'm pretty sure it was withing about three days. While the others in her litter, unfortunately, were not able to "thrive", she was thriving for all of them. 
I did a DNA test on her, and it came back as: 56% Great Pyrenees; 22% Akbash; 14% Lab; and 8% Greyhound (which I, personally, think she looks the most like). She runs free out in the meadow down by the river, chases deer for hundreds of yards then comes right back to us (L.C. is currently more interested in searching for golf balls, as someone set up a driving range out in the fields), and is living her absolute best life.
What's new with you? 
I'm hoping it's half as great as what is new with I.V. (now stands for "I'm Victorious").

Happy Communicating,

​Shelly